This was an impromptu show/battle/cookout in Orlando, FL. We basically set up some monitors, a drum set, and amps in the parking lot of Jusincredible Cutz and went hamburger. This was when I first started doing shows and sharing my music around the country so it’s cool to see. Not to sure why the video is just surfacing now but better late than never. Props to Jusincredible Cutz, Big Butta Beats, Alukard, Am I Am and everybody in Orlando who showed us love. Me and Am I am ended up sharing the battle winnings so it was a good night for us.

AluKarD

Our Band of the Hour likes to consider themselves Miami’s worst kept secret and embrace their black sheep status.

By Rayme Samuels

Coining themselves Miami’s worst kept secret, AluKarD have been doing their thing since 1998. These guys are the first to admit that they are the proverbial black sheep of the local music scene. Pride flows from the quintet when they declare that there is no one else around in Miami that sounds like them.

Members Level (rhythm guitar, vocals), Zaigone (drummer), Jason Pupo (bass), Stuntman Steve (lead guitar), and E.Grizzly (MC, synthesizer) are masters of innovation. Skating across the musical spectrum, these guys create a sound of punk and classic rock dutifully combined with bass and hip hop that inspires a deep connection with their audiences. Deftly able to manipulate their sound through different genres, the quintet finds influence from acts like Queens of the Stone Age, Wu Tang Clan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Johnny Cash.

Taking a stance against how droves of newcomers in the industry claim to be the next big thing that will save music, and then end up producing clichéd songs, AluKarD don’t want to save music. They want music to save them. “So many people have something to say in their songs, and that’s great but we found that music should give you something to feel,” Level explained.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in their gripping tune “Forever Never,” a hard hitting track that tells a true story of a guy falling in love with a girl who is already taken. The subliminal anthem in support of a comrade’s encounter with forbidden love speaks volumes to the accessibility of the band.

Touring the east coast from Florida to New York City in 2008, AluKarD left a lasting impression at every stop along the way. For them, nothing compared to coming back home to Miami for the warm welcome. The future brings a release party at Vagabond on Thursday, Feb. 11 for their disc “One Shot” and many more opportunities to catch their live show.

This addition of blog love goes out to imveryape.com for showing me some love on my track Shark Hunter Quint. It’s super appreciated man. Feel free to click away on their link above. They also got a hidden gem section for those sneaky tracks that get lost in the world wide web. Good stuff!

I’d like to welcome you to the Adventures of E. Grizzly, the entertaining website of one of the most raspy and rambunctious MCs out there. It is a mix of hilarious artwork (check out the painting) and youtube videos, but also live shows, songs, and lyrics from the gravelly-voiced, Miami-based rapper E. Grizzly (aka Eric). The highlight for me so far has been finding the indie-rock tinged track Shark Hunter Quint off his newest mixtape – The Nah Mixtape. As stated in Grizzly’s site, the album was produced by the drummer of the punk band 1994, and the influence made for a great marriage. Industrial drums and rock reverb get layered with whirling synth to created a My Bloody Valentine-esque wall of noise that sounds completely novel for a hip hop track. Grizzly’s weathered but energetic delivery adds sand to that storm as he belts out thoughtful and unique lyrics – “I’m about the new religion of free thinkin’, without the superstition”. And all the sounds blend together perfectly in the earworm of a chorus “I-I-I-I-I’m an American Guerrilla”. This is a stellar concoction of new ideas and solid rapping that has me saying, at least for today, IMVERYGUERRILLA.